Voltaire Molesworth
Voltaire Molesworth | |
|---|---|
Molesworth c. 1930 | |
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
| In office September 8th 1932 – 22 April 1934 | |
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 20 March 1920 – 18 April 1925 | |
| Constituency | Cumberland |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 December 1889 Balmain, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 5 November 1934 (aged 44) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Labor (to 1925) Nationalist Party (1925–1931) United Australia (from 1931) |
| Spouse |
Ivy Vick (m. 1915) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Voltaire Molesworth (29 December 1889 – 5 November 1934) was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor and politician.
Molesworth was born in Sydney, spending part of his early childhood in Paraguay as part of the utopian socialist New Australia colony. He began his journalism career with the Cumberland Times and The Evening News, serving a term as state president of the Australian Journalists Association. Molesworth was best known for his association with Smith's Weekly and its affiliate the Daily Guardian, including as editor of the latter from 1927 to 1931.
Molesworth combined journalism with parliamentary politics. Initially a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1914 federal election before winning a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1920 state election. He soon came into conflict with party leader Jack Lang and in 1925 he left the Labor Party and later joined the Nationalist Party. He was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1932 as a member of the United Australia Party and served until 1934.